Weekend Play-Pretend Warriors in Nevada

Cliven Bundy’s stand against the United States government has often been described as the equivalent of the Whiskey Rebellion. We can find this comparison all over the Web.

Bundy has described himself as “just like Rosa Parks.” No, he isn’t. Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus. She did not pull a gun on the driver. Bundy has let himself be surrounded by armed guards. He is just like Huey P. Newton, not Rosa Parks.

There is a big difference between the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791-94 and the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. The Whiskey Rebellion was crushed by a huge military force, led personally by George Washington. The civil rights movement was politically victorious.

There were very different philosophies behind these two rebellions. The Whiskey Rebellion was run by people who thought they could use the force of arms to resist a federal tax. The civil rights movement was based on nonviolent resistance. It presented an articulate defense of the right of peaceful resistance in terms of fixed moral law.

From a public relations standpoint, the civil rights movement was the most effective resistance movement in the history of the United States. The federal government, led by John F. Kennedy and then by Lyndon Johnson, desperately wanted to avoid public confrontations in the South. But the protesters would not go away, and the civil authorities in the South, who had way too much power, thought they could use billy clubs, fire hoses, and German shepherds to keep protesters at bay. Movies of these beatings got onto the evening news in 1963, and for the next seven years, Southern law enforcement officials were regarded by the public above the Mason-Dixon line and west of Ft. Worth as men who had overstepped their constitutional authority to use violence against nonviolent citizens.

With this as background, let us consider the tactics of Bundy’s defenders in Clark County, Nevada.

COWBOYS VS. THE BLM

When it looked as though the Bureau of Land Management would continue to shoot his cattle, a group of cattlemen assembled at Bundy’s property, and they were armed. The BLM eventually backed down. I doubt seriously that this retreat on the part of BLM bureaucrats is a permanent condition. Bureaucrats do not like to be faced down by private citizens. It makes it look as though the bureaucrats who run the organization are a bunch of cowardly, pitiable girlie men, to quote a former governor of California. They will seek revenge. They possess the initiative.

What backed down the BLM was clear: public relations. The videos were all over YouTube. This was not part of any systematic public relations program on the part of the cowboys who showed up to defend Bundy. These men are not disciples of Saul Alinsky. They just wanted to present show of force.

BLM officers have largely retreated and Bundy — who has refused to pay the federal government grazing fees for roughly 20 years — has recovered many of his seized cattle. Nevertheless, supporters of the rancher remain outside his property in large numbers equipped with heavy firearms in the event that another standoff emerges and they have to be the last line of defense for the Bundy family in case of further federal encroachment.

They have positioned themselves as armed separatists. From the looks of it, most of the people in Clark County think they are beyond the fringe. The Congressman from the county is now publicly saying that the governor should intervene and arrest these men. I don’t think he would do this in an election year if he thought that a majority of the voters in his district were strongly in favor of Bundy and the cowboys.

The cowboys who showed up with weapons are playing with fire. They think their guns have scared the U.S. government. They have not understood that their cell phones have scared off the BLM. The success of the videos on YouTube, coupled with non-mainstream media reminders of Waco, persuaded the BLM to retreat for a time. We can be reasonably certain that the bureaucrats are thinking through what their long-term plan should be.

At any time, a federal marshal and a couple of hundred armed deputies can go to Bundy’s house and arrest him. If there is any threat of armed resistance by the cowboys, the marshal can simply say: “Lay down your guns.” At that point, the cowboys will face their moment of truth. They can risk getting shot, or else they can risk being surrounded for the next week or month.

They can be starved out. No one gets in. No one gets out. This is simple for people of normal intelligence to understand, but the cowboys do not understand it.

There will be photographs taken by one of the federal officers. The cowboys will be identified within a matter of minutes through facial recognition technology. At that point, teams of federal marshals and deputized officials, armed to the teeth, can be dispatched to the homes of these cowboys. At any time, there can be a warrant-authorized invasion of these homes, once there is evidence of an armed standoff. The justification for this invasion: a search for additional weapons. All weapons will be confiscated. The federal government will take control of these homes.

Meanwhile, the cowboys surrounding Bundy’s ranch are going to get hungry. For political reasons, the federal marshal may not shoot them. But someone will make videos of the fact that they refuse to lay down their arms.

If any hothead raises his weapon and attempts to fire on federal officers, he will be dead within a matter of seconds. Others close to him may be killed. It depends on how well the officials can shoot and how close the others are to the hothead.

Then the marshal will say, once again, “Lay down your guns.” Most of the cowboys will lay down their guns. Those cowboys who do not lay down their guns will then have their lives dependent on the assessment of the marshal regarding the public relations nature of any further shootings.

This is simple to predict: tear gas. I don’t think these cowboys have ever faced tear gas. They will scatter.

If another hothead takes a shot, he will be cut down. The best that the others can hope for is that they will not be shot by mistake.

Then will come the arrests. Then will come the $200 per hour bills from their defense attorneys. They will be forced to sell their ranches. If the government wants to drain them, one by one, each man will be tried separately. There will be no joint trial, where a non-profit conservative legal defense fund picks up the joint tab.

They will be convicted by juries of their peers, one by one. Americans do not tolerate private citizens firing on law-enforcement officials. The first time some hothead aims his weapon at a marshal, the entire group will move from underdogs to revolutionaries.

The government will take plenty of videos next time. The arrests will be staged accordingly. Call this the YouTube Wars, stage two. The cowboys will lose this war.

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You do not understand. The gov't through EPA and ESA has been systematically putting ranchers, farmers, loggers, etc. out of business. They are using the desert tortoise and other so-called endangered species to shut down their business. It has nothing to do with endangered species or the environment and everything to do with Agenda 21, a plan to herd everyone into the cities, where they are more easily controlled. I personally know of many ranches where cattle are no longer grazing and they are shutting down farms in California because of the delta smelt. This hurts not only the ranchers and farmers, but the entire economy of rural areas. Do you think these people should happily say, go ahead and take everything I have, my lifestyle and way of making a living?

What is at stake is the ownership of the land by the STATE (COUNTRY) of Nevada and the small central government that our founding fathers gave us. The District of Criminals got outside their 10 square mile domain and has created havoc with the 50 countries since … stealing their land. It is long over due in putting D.C. back in its proper place.

Look up and read Agenda 21. Check out some of the maps. Also consider what was going around in 2005 through 2008 that involved the North American Super highway cooridor plans. It require vast amount of land. To which has to be taken from private land owners. Regardless of the Bundy issue and whether to much grass was consumed by the cattle. Not even the turtle will survive the planning of a Super Highway cooridor for trade moving and tying Canda to Mexico across vast areas of the US. Also,,,completion of the Keystone pipeline will cut Mexico out of the Trucking needs for goods such as pertroleum from Canada too. Just check those issues out and think about the grand scheme of what all is going on.

OK he did not pay the grazing fee and with that being the major sticking point[??] All this resource is brought down on the guy. I don't really think his case is that good, but my question is what makes this land so valuable they want him off of it? What politician is going to make a nice chunk of change in the redistrubtion of 'wealth'? I don't think it is about rights it is about money and greed, just remains to see whose.

What hasn't been reported is that it wasn't that he didn't pay the fee, he wanted to pay it to Clark County, NOT the Feds – BIG DIFFERENCE that seems to be lost/not reported. Bundy didn't want to go to war but knew if he had to, he would, to protect HIS CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS! What so many have given up it seems all for that faux security or free crap (welfare, food stamps, obamaphones, etc). Dig deeper, dig further, WHY is Harry Reid so bent on going after Bundy (he said "It's not over").

Yes many more ppl are waking up and TIRED of the Fed abusing their authority and YES we will go from underdogs to revolutionaries – what side do you wish to be on is the question. I know where I stand, I've already been classified as a "terrorist" by this pos potus because I believe in the Constitution, carry a gun & a bible around with me!

Mr. North sounds like he works for the government. Of course he neglected to mention that the BLM had themselves hired other "Cowboys" to herd, murder and bury some of Bundy's cattle did he? He also seems to have forgotten Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 of the US Constitution otherwise known as the Enclave Clause which gives the government strict guidelines that they SHALL follow regarding the purchase of any State's land which does not mention any tortoises or endangered species but only "for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards and other needful buildings."

So I ask Mr. North, If government isn't afraid of us, then why all the attempts at covering up their crimes against We the People? What Mr. North needs to know is that this is how they prosper: They use the media to instill fear, which is un-American. Remember “These colors do not run!”?

And finally allow me to remind Mr. North that “The republic was not established by cowards; and cowards will not preserve it. This will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” (Elmer Davis)

Gary::
Thank you for carefully depicting a fanciful descent into a police state as a part of the new Ratio Recta.
“They can be starved out. No one gets in. No one gets out. This is simple for people of normal intelligence to understand, but the cowboys do not understand it.”
But to suggest ‘the cowboys’ don’t understand something says more about your lack of comprehension than theirs. You seem to think those that would defend Bundy — personally — should expect to have their homes and families taken hostage by ‘the authorities’ is a part of the American way – how sad.

Check your history a bit with the same eye: was Rosa Parks removed from the bus at the point of a gun by quasi-Federal agents?

This is the poorest piece of propaganda I have read I some time.

Try this as a counter scenario:
A siege on American Citizens on their own sovereign soil by this regime, composed of the very kind of people that wanted Rosa Parks in the back of the bus, is a declaration of war on all the people that still is a higher crime than the cause of the Whiskey Rebellion.

Mr. North is no Tea Party, Patriot, or Constitutionalist. He is a STATIST, possibly a Repub (but what does that mean anymore?) The NV Governor (R) and one US Senator (R) issued mealy mouthed statements and skedaddled. North has done a "John Roberts" of twisting the facts to implement the NWO Agenda 21 Obamanation. Shameful Article worthy of a Harry Reid supporter.

So according to this article we should all just cower to the Feds because of a risk of getting hurt or killed? So I guess this author also thinks that America should not have fought against the Nazi's because of their firepower? With this "logic" we should just allow these feds threaten, rob, and even kill us – we should be scared of them. BS! I salute the heroes that have gone to protect Mr. Bundy – especially the Oath Keepers!

Mr. North, you mis-read the situation and the motives and character of Cliven Bundy and the militiamen just as badly as 14 years ago you mis-read the Y2K disaster that never was. As noted by the sole reporter on the scene at the moment of truth, the men he saw facing the BLM "enforcers" showed every sign of understanding clearly just what they were facing, what their odds were, and that they "were ready to die." Also only a Fox News vehicle was parked nearby; all of the left-leaning rags were conspicuous in their absence.

These guys you derisively dismiss as "cowboys" (from as far away as Vermont) remind me of the Minutemen, who rousted each other out of bed one night in 1775 'cuz the Redcoats were marching to seize their armory. Didn't those clods know they were about to tangle with soldiers of the British Empire, the 18th century's only superpower?

Gary,
The last time I knew you to be wrong was 1999. I think you are incorrect in your understanding of this situation. In order for Bundy to pay the feds grazing fee, he was required to sign a contract that limited the number of cattle he grazed to fewer than necessary to make the ranch sustainable. It's no coincidence that he is the last of 53 ranchers in Clark County. They were all squeezed out in similar fashion. 1/53 resisted. Extrapolate those numbers to the general population and the feds are seriously outnumbered.

Mr. North makes far too many assumptions in this article. First, the civil rights movement was NOT based on nonviolent resistance – there were numerous black and white violent confrontations but government and the media only tell about the non-violent blacks, or the violence perpetrated by whites.

Second, you assume that these are just "cowboys", but in truth many are militia group members. You assume that they are poorly armed and trained, when quite the contrary, many of these men are veterans, they own a variety of firearms and protective equipment, they train regularly, and far more than these government thugs. At the instance the first shot is fired, the BLM personnel will likely be eradicated in short order. This is why the government backed down, they cannot afford a firefight where they will come out the loser. Waco and Ruby Ridge were examples where they had superior numbers, firepower, and the public was totally uninformed until AFTER it happened. If the government starts an armed conflict, there are thousands of armed citizens (for each hundred government thugs) that are prepared to react. This a one fight the government doesn't want to get started.

It's not as simple as the federal marshals and sheriff coming in and dictating disarmament. It has been shown that Bundy is standing his ground based on illegal or inaction of the government's BLM program, the lack of actual government authority over state public lands and individual private property. Bundy has lost in court because the federal judge works for the federal government (conflict of interest), that judge is going to do what his "employer" (Reid and the BLM chief) tells him.

Lastly, as far as Bundy being like Rosa Parks, YES it is the same. It is a citizen standing up for their rights. Bundy is well within his right to refuse to pay grazing fees because it has been established that not only has his family been grazing this land for over 120 years (well before the BLM was established), but that his Grandfather purchased the grazing RIGHTS and passed those to his family. Grazing rights are no different than mineral rights in that they are OWNED!

Mr North, for the first time I see you in a different very bright light. All the clearly pro government statements of yours in regard to Bundy, I now see you don’t have a clue about the situation. And to accuse Bundy of not paying the taxes? Where do you get your news, FOX? Nevada as I understand it should be paying him for their claiming of the land his family has had rights to that extend way before the BLM existed. And to compare it to the civil rights movement ? Please. Maybe if the BLM came to steal your stuff and push you off your land, you would just bow down and kiss their boots so you don’t make them more mad? Very disappointed in your article. I will be taking a very BIG grain of salt with everything I read of yours anymore. I used to look at your stuff with interest and trust. Not going to be naive enough to just accept what you say anymore. If this had come out on April 1st I would have had a good laugh instead.

Mr. North what don't you understand about basic law enforcement? The sheriff of a county is the law. Not federal agents, not federal bureaucrats. Mr Bundy has every right for all those who are still there to be on his land. Maybe what you need is to be a rancher and learn just how dispecable government bureaucrats can be. Do you not know the tax payer pays them. Oh they'll say we pay our taxes. Really? Nope they just recycle my tax money. Boy do you have a lot to learn Mr. North!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They were interested in it because Harry Reid and his son were trying to broker a deal with one of China's largest energy companies to put another solar farm on that land that would have been worth BILLIONS to them. Once the cat was out of the bag so to speak, the Chinese backed out of the deal but the Reid's weren't about to give up that easily. Molon Labe, Semper od Bless.

I was even a little too nice in my post above. You understand economics very well indeed, and preach freedom, but you don’t have a clue about true freedom because you sound unwilling to defend it. That in my book is cowardice.

Gary is wrong. He is kissing the ass of the government tyrants.
Righteous self defense against armed tyranny is not wrong.
The patriots at the Bindy ranch weren't there to start a gunfight, but to defend against armed federal thugs and a group of mercenaries they brought, who wer stealing and killing the Bundys cattle. To prevent another Ruby Ridge or Waco atrocity.
No, Jesus didn't carry a sword, but he told his apostles to sell their cloaks if necessary to buy swords. The myth of Jesus as a pacifist is just that a myth. He beat the hell out of the money changers in the temple.
Comparing Bundy to the black panthers is an absurdly gross distortion.
The militia act didn't disband the militia, it just created the national guard. The on organized militia … All of the people … still is the people's last resort against federal tyranny.
As far as Ghandi is concerned, "Had the Japanese got as far as India, Gandhi's theories of "passive resistance" would have floated down the Ganges River with his bayoneted, beheaded carcass. — Mike Vanderboegh."
And, inside every federal bureaucrat is a totalitarian screaming to get out.
Since you mention Col. cooper, how about another quiote from him that's more to the point?
"“It is interesting to hear certain kinds of people insist that the citizen cannot fight the government. This would have been news to the men of Lexington and Concord, as well as the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan. The citizen most certainly can fight the government, and usually wins when he tries. Organized national armies are useful primarily for fighting against other organized national armies. When they try to fight against the people, they find themselves at a very serious disadvantage. If you will just look around at the state of the world today, you will see that the guerillero has the upper hand. Irregulars usually defeat regulars, providing they have the will. Such fighting is horrible to contemplate, but will continue to dominate brute strength.” – Col. Jeff Cooper

And what you Mr North are assuming is that it is only the Cowboys that are on his side, if you really want to see what could happen assuming that what you say comes to pass, you will see an outcry of more Americans getting involved and taking action against the injustice that has been plaguing this country for years. I may not totally agree with how this has been played out but it does look like thugs coming over to invoke terror on a rancher whose only crime is defending HIS OWN property for Years!

Nope hes seen the a article of where the FCC may be focusing on Drudge now. If by chance the congress and senate get changed and go rebublican for sure in NOV. It will be interesting to see how things turn around or if this GOV overreaching continues. IF it does and if the WH goes REP and it gets worse. Then my friends you can bet we will have a real problem on our hands. The Bundy confrontation will not even compare. The US needs to have its house put back in order as things are definately getting out of hand. But of course all that is going on is by design.

HE SHOULD BE PROTECTED BY THE HOMESTEAD ACT. YOU LIVE ON SEVERAL ACRES OF LAND FOR 7 YEARS AND KEEP IT UP. IT BECOMES YOUR LAND. IF THERE FAMILY HAS OWNED THAT LAND FOR OVER A 100 YEARS THEN OUR GOVENRMENT IS VIOLATING THE HOMESTEAD ACT. THE LAND BELONGED TO THE STATE BEFORE THE FEDS DECLARED IT FEDERAL LAND. IT'S COMUNISITIC TO TAKE SOMEONES LAND FROM THEM.

Mr North,I think you had better go back and reread the Constitution as Mr Bundy was and is fighting our government that has no legal right to that land and has no right to be a police force. Mr Bundy’s fight is a fight that most Americans are going to face in the near future. Of course many will just coware and be slaves. Read also the Declaration Of Independence as it is the second most powerful document. If the government was to come and take your property, would you coware and let them? If the government threatened to kill your family would you sit back and say go ahead? This is not a fight about cattle for the most part but what we as citizens are promised in the above documents. It is time people start opening their eye and see the whole picture.

What's at stake here is whether or not this country remains a free Republic. Harry Reid and his son instigated this cluster to reap financial benefits of millions of dollars. Bundy is the last rancher in the county still in business, the others have all been illegally run off. We the People, like me, stand with him, no matter the government's rhetoric and hyperbole. When the SHTF, thousands of us will answer the call and respond accordingly. We must let Washington DC know that we will not bow down to them any longer.

Mr. North the core of the resistance to the federal THUGS at the bundy ranch were a group called Oathkeepers made up of VETERANS, which I don't recall you being. __ Like the men who stood UNDER Arms at a place called Lexington on 19 April, 1775, they faced what has become a tyrannical regime, peacefully under arms.__As a VETERAN, a Combat arms Officer and a man who SWORE to DEFEND the constitution from just such thuigs a know run the government I and thousands of others are prepared if needed to honor our Oath today, and we REMEMBER and HONOR the brave heroes who stood against British Oppression the same way the men at Bundy ranch stood against the BLM thugs oppression.

He is off the reservation, There were over two hundred Oathkeepers largely veterans of the US Special Forces at the Bundy Ranch stand off… On the side of Bundy, these were the core of the militia who backed down the BLM, brave men who honored their oath to defend the part of the constitution I revere, the Bill of Rights, and who were trained and very able to deal with Gestapo wanna be thugs like the BLM had working for them.

Agreed the core of the militia involvement were veterans who like those brave men who stood on Lexington Green facing 1500 British troops on 19 April 1775, the militia stood their ground for the natural rights of Free Men in the face of a tyrant, this time the tyrant blinked, we who swore our oath to defend the constitution, and the rights of Americans to Liberty have not forgotten the message of 19 April, 1775, even if folks like Gary have forgotten it.

Do you think that the men at Lexington who stood against 1500 British Army regulars should have done that? I was trained as a SF NCO and served as a combat arms officer and their are a lot of us veterans who are sick of the folks trying to make this a tyranny… AND we were trained to deal with and remove a tyrant and his/her military, just like the minuteman of 19 April 1775 were and did.

I prefer to compare it to the event that took place on 19 April 1775 when free men without by the way ANY politicians nearby, stood against the mightiest military of their day, took the British volley then for the next day along the road from Lexington to Concord and back to Boston shot the British gun grabbers to pieces, starting the war of independence….. and the closest "p ahttp://teapartyeconomist.com/2014/05/07/weekend-play-pretend-warriors-nevada/triot politicians other then John Hancock and Sam Adams were hundreds of miles away chit chatting in Philadelphia.

More like 19 April 1775. Guys like Gary North were against the III who actually served and the approximately 10% who supported our revolutionary ancestors and at Lexington it was what Norht called "Cowboys" men just like me who beat the British.

I agree with Gary North on one thing. In Waco and Ruby Ridge we did not all have cell phone cameras and the internet to post them on. Now the MSM can still lie, but there is a chance to tell the rest of the story. Also these comment pages give us a chance to give our analysis. Al Gore may think he invented the internet, but it is out of his hands for now.

As many other commenters have noted, I too am surprised by North's lack of balance in his article. First of all, the BLM was way off base when they brought in 200 heavily armed agents for something that could have been easily handled peacefully by one unarmed agent. Why not simply place a lien on Bundy's ranch for the amount owed in grazing fees.

Oh yes, Harry Reid and his son have plans for the BLM land that Bundy has been using for grazing his cattle. My understanding is that the Reid family are sponsoring a Chinese company that wants to build a solar farm on some land 50 miles away, but they need a place for the desert tortoises currently occupying the planned solar farm land.

My question is how much the Reid family is being paid to act on behalf of the Chinese. Also, as a US Senator, can harry Reid act as an agent for the Chinese? I think the answer to that question is obvious.

Finally, the head of the BLM got his job through Reid's sponsorship and that explains why they are working on his behalf.

Gary, there are always two sides to every story, and it behooves you to present them both. I agree with you that this was a dangerous situation that could have exploded at any time, but it was a situation that was created by the heavily armed mob of BLM agents, and not by Cliven Bundy.

The feds have screwed up such situations time and time again. What happened at Waco was on the Feds Ruby Ridge was on the Feds. The Feds are expected to act professionally in such situations, but they frequently do not. In this case, they didn't when they showed up 200 strong and heavily armed, and they didn't when they rounded up Cliven Bundy's cattle and killed many of them, but they did when they finally pulled up stakes and left.

David::
That's what he says, but he is also saying 'embrace the suck' — easy when it is not your face that is being stepped in. One serious point: no government is ever so powerful that it can hold down the people if they choose to deliver justice on their abuser –the history of war records those who held out for a while before they were taken down. Think about it.
We must not and cannot tolerate a regime that treats American citizens as if we are all 'domestic terrorists' to be probed and examined for flying to another US city or going into a 'Public' building, yet ships off billions of taxpayer dollars to terrorists in foreign countries that want to see us all dead and that puts terrorists in positions of powerful authority for them to abuse. I want to see those people dragged out into the street more than anyone else, but am wiling to proceed as if we are all humans — something they are not capable of, as we see by their actions — but that time may end soon, as times get harder and the terrorized begin to lash out at whoever they can, not knowing how they have been manipulated to do so. Who would expect snipers were needed to deal with the people at the Bundy Ranch? The SS. At some point all those types must go down.

"Do you think that the men at Lexington who stood against 1500 British Army regulars should have done that?"

No because sadly the hand held video camera hadn't been invented yet, and even if it had we hadn't yet invented the computer, the internet data packet hand-shaking protocols or YouTube. Otherwise it wouldn't have been a bad idea, I like thinking outside the box.

"I was trained as a SF NCO and served as a combat arms officer and their are a lot of us veterans who are sick of the folks trying to make this a tyranny…"

This country became a tyranny a long time ago. So my first question would be why did you sign up and join a military that works for a tyranny?

"AND we were trained to deal with and remove a tyrant and his/her military, just like the minuteman of 19 April 1775 were and did."

Well the US government has some more significant advantages than the British did. How many tank divisions can you and your veterans field? How many fighter aircraft? How much of the local population will support you? There are as many as 150,000-200,000 federal agents that carry firearms in the country, not counting about 50,000 US military front line combat troops, do have those numbers that you can put in the field?

If the answers to those questions are "0" "0" "Not enough" and "Not that many" then I strongly recommend you use your cameras and youtube to get the feds to back off. The government is so heavily in debt the people that work for it will go home when they stop getting paid.

I agree as well. I'm as conservative as they come and I'm sick and tired of the aggressive "good guys can do anything bad" mentality of current law enforcement officials. It seems as though recruiting standards have changed over the past 20 years from emphasis on common sense and restraint to a beat first and ask questions later mentality. The best answer for America is less cops and more CCWs. We'll be safer and our tax dollars can be better spent on repairing our crumbling infrastructure.

Dr. North, you do realize Bundy and any other ranchers who have not already been driven out of business and off their land by the BLM, pay exorbitant grazing fees to the federal government, while the feds have been cutting back on the number of head of cattle that are allowed to graze, without reducing the fees one nickel?

Also that Reid and one of his biggest contributors, Harvey Whittemore, have jointly formed a corporation to profit from the fracking rights they hope to lease when they have financially ruined Bundy and driven him off the property his family has owned for over 100 years? Just as the BLM has done to at least 7-8 other ranchers in the immediate surrounding area to the Bundy ranch?

And that there has already been built an off-ramp to nowhere from the interstate next to the Bundy ranch, where the politicians are planning future retail, shopping and office development once the feds have illegally seized the Bundy property?

I'm on the side of Cliven Bundy! That standoff was more about "freedom" than about anything else! People are fed up with this government and they they are saying "NO MORE"!

My son was one of the cowboys; "unarmed" that rode his horse down the gully to help retrieve the cattle those BLM "thugs" stole! By the way: many of the Bundy's cattle died because the BLM agents; i.e. "sharp shooters"; (200 of them) used helicopters to round them up and didn't feed or water the 400 head they put in corrals! That situation all started because Harry Reid and his lawyer son Rory made a deal with a Chinese solar company to build a very large solar facility there. The BLM had been killing the so-called "going extinct" tortoises because there were so many! Also, the Bundy family had been grazing their cattle on that land since the 1800's, long before the BLM "confiscated" it!

ALSO, think about this: the BLM either "takes" or "purchases" land. Where does it get the money to buy that land? Ans: From the taxpayers! So why shouldn't taxpayers be allowed to use that land? ALSO: what gives the BLM or any other federal government agency the right to "take" or "confiscate" land? That land belongs to the state it's in and the people of that state; not the federal government!!!!

Cliven Bundy has a right to defend himself against Harry Reid and his "thugs"! Reid has stated that: "This isn't over yet"! Militiamen are there to protect Cliven and his family from our government, sad but true….a government "out of control"!! Harry and his son will stop at nothing to get the Bundy's off that land so they can get their "payday" from the Chinese!
Watch Judge Jenine on FOX! She's got it right! She did her research on this topic!

Over time I have had alot of respect for Mr. Norths stand on situations, not this time.
He is right that the narrative was taken from the fedcoats in this situation, and that their tactics and unbrideled force was finally viewed by the general populace which caused the fedcoats to back down. He is also right about what future curcumstances may occur and how how the threat, intimidation that the fedcoats will use by force alone to acheive their end game in as many directions as they can.
But the subject here is deeper, and Mr. North fails to report that, fails to dig for all facts and present the truth of this situation. The WHOLE STORY, not just opinion.
That brings to question the intent of the article.
Mr North, with all due respect, pick your side and be truthful about it. The time for fence sitting and banter is no longer a luxury.

Mr. North, YOU have removed all credibiolity from yourself! You don't live in Southern Nevada, I do. A lot ofus do. We know this was a deliberate campaign toi force the ONE LAST CATTLE RANCHER OFF HIS LAND here in Clark County for Harry Reid and his son , Rory, and their special windfall project!!
Bundy is the VERY LAST CATTLE RANCHER IN CLARK COUNTY NEVADA because the BLM was successful in crushing all the other ones businesses and driving them out!! God Bless Cliven Bundy for taking a stand against an overwhelming and tyrannical government agency that has NO LEGITIMATE CLAIM to override Bundy's ranching claims.
I will now consider your opinions to be the equivalent of shilling for the government. Thanks for exposing yourself for the phony you are!!

I stand with Bundy. The government has no right to come in and take away his land. As for arm guards why shouldn't he stand up to the bully, greedy Reid and his army of tanks and guns demanding Bundy to do as he and BLM say or else. Another dictator. Why don't they go after the trouble maker at the Mexican boarder.

Mr North, I certainly HOPE & PRAY you are reading these comments. Seems there are MANY that are NOT falling for your rhetoric on this one and think of the same as me, you have fallen victim to bowing at the feet of the government! That what the government orders you to do, you do so willingly W/O question as to whether it's Constitutional. NOW more than EVER is the time to stand up and get us BACK to the Constitution. YES you are WAY off the reservation on this one and by CONSTANTLY sending it out in emails, well makes me think you don't care about We the People!

As it was pointed out, the Sheriff is the LAW! They stand between We the People against the tyranny of state & federal government! (provided said Sheriff is a Constitutional one and NOT in the pockets of some politician, like Guilesspie & Reid).

Thanks to Amendment 5 of the federal Constitution and its establishment of eminent domain, leading to the appropriation (theft) of private land turned into public land, and the Constitutional Republic’s insidious property taxes, every square inch of land in America is owned by the government of the Constitutional Republic (something impossible under Biblical law, see Exodus 19:5, Psalm 24:1, Leviticus 25:23) and therefore the Bundys and the protesters ultimately don’t have standing in this situation. Appealing to the Constitution or the Bill of Rights
in this and similar situations is the epitome or irony!

It was not a matter of the cowboys 'scaring off" the BLM. It was a matter of standing for the inherent rights against an illegal, encroaching government. The cowboys were prepared to DEFEND against, not to, Instigate BLM violence. Any other reading is false. Those cowboys were American Patriots. The BLM was (is) thuggery of a despotic government. Our government is completely out of control in their diligent disregard of constitutional laws.

I see this as another good article loaded with common sense and loads of good advice for grown men that should know better than to brandish guns around law enforcement. Key words that caught my attention include "widow", "hotheads" and "agent provocateur" . The references to George Washington and Andrew Jackson particularly caught my attention. They were men of action.

It looks like the same "bureaucrat" responsible for the drone strike psy-op has written Gary's narrative for this article? The internet will most likely be negated as the "voice of truth" as it is seriously fouling up the effectiveness of Pravda's…er um… MSM's part in "crowd control". Since the cell phone was essential in reporting the truth from ground zero, that too will be dealt with.
I think that what "they" are most puzzled by is: Many of us know the Founders' vision of America has been dead for some time, yet we have not given up and never will. The puzzled look on "their" faces puts a smile on mine. Sleep much bee-ot-ches?

The fact that Dr. North is against armed resistance to the government in this case does not mean he approves of the government's actions in this case. This is a question of tactics, and he is simply advocating a peaceful, protest-driven tactic.

It is certainly true that armed resistance is appropriate in certain circumstances, and I don't think that Dr. North would dispute that. He is saying that this is not one of those circumstances. A key aspect of the Christian theory of resistance is (or should be) taking into account the probability of success. If the probability of armed resistance being successful is low, it should not be attempted.

In this case, Gary believes that the probability of success is very low. You can disagree with him about that, and even about his view the merits of Cliven's case, but hardly makes Gary in the pocket of the government. Violence is not the only form of effective resistance.

Mr. North, You clearly have NO real understanding of what is taking place in Bunkerville, Nevada. You are a sheep with no understanding of "Liberty". You would have all people lie down and take it simply because the government said so. How pathetic. You might consider this: "We love peace, but not peace at any price. There is a peace more destructive of the manhood of living man, than war is destructive to his body. Chains are worse than bayonets." — Douglas Jerrold. CRLynn

Good grief, Mr. North… The only question I have is. did you write this article thinking it would protect the Tea Party, or do you really have so little understanding of the situation, our culture, and your fellow patriots? What do you think the reaction of the general public would be if the Feds actually killed any of those people, then or now? It is not difficult to see people are fed up with a whole lot, and the Feds killing these folks over grazing rights would be the final straw. No, you read this wrong. Taking a stand united was the right thing. Victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat. This situation has shown the light of day on the BLM, on Harry Raid and has shown everyone around the world how fed up the American people have become.

Dr. North is counseling wisdom. Since when has counseling Wisdom been a poor policy?

OK, so the "weekend warriors" got the BLM to back off for a short while….. now we have to use the power of public persuasion to keep them at bay while the Courts and Politicians settle this dispute.

If it turns out that Bundy is in the wrong then it will fall that way.

If the BLM has been misbehaving then we need to examine the BLM. Bureaucracies are not perfect because human beings are not perfect. They have to be accountable to someone.

If Senator Reid is misbehaving then the Senate Ethics committee needs to get to work. Which will be much easier if the GOP takes the Senate back over this year. Avoiding a Waco type disaster would help a lot to get the Senate out of the "wrong hands".

Y ES mam. And people have missed this the last 40 years. They have shutdown logging in Maine and other states,,,,People making a very good living at the time, had do find work at half the income. I know people up there who suffered under this nonsense. We need conservation BUT not Elimination!!! Too bad we did NOT Do IT On Our Own; Business needs to Wake-Up as well as workers. MAYBE we need to Cut THE income of some of these Folks in WDC AND their Budgets! I would not take their jobs for $100,000, BUT with the benefits it is more like 250k$ and more <>>> If we could just keep Michelle and the Olde-Man from acting like World-Social Works, We could hire a few dozen real workers in EVERY State!

Absolutely! We have a State Verses Federal Law issue and overstepping, taking place. Our citizens steated a battle like this 0ver 100 years ago in the West AND they Warned that the government would act like this some day!

If nothing else Bundy's actions have shown the rest of the country just how corrupt our government can be and just how much concern it has for the rights of its taxpaying citizens. It is clearly evident that this is an attempt by Reid and company to take over state owned property for personal gain.

Gary North is must be a Neocon Operative or terribly ill-informed. He needs to do some real journalism before just spouting-off Federal Government Talking points. Want the Truth and Real Documentation of the reasons behind the BLM Nevada Land grab. Read: http://www.infowars.com/breaking-sen-harry-reid-b…

If Gary North doesn't print a retraction after he does some real research, then we should drop his anti-Constitutional newsletter. He doesn't deserve an audience.

"Americans do not tolerate private citizens firing on law-enforcement officials."

Not anymore, they don't:

The Federalist No. 28
"But ambitious encroachments of the federal government, on the authority of the State governments, would not excite the opposition of a single State, or of a few States only. They would be signals of general alarm. Every government would espouse the common cause. A correspondence would be opened. Plans of resistance would be concerted. One spirit would animate and conduct the whole. The same combinations, in short, would result from an apprehension of the federal, as was produced by the dread of a foreign, yoke; and unless the projected innovations should be voluntarily renounced, the same appeal to a trial of force would be made in the one case as was made in the other."

North has lost his credibility. This wasn't just a little cowboys against the "law." Why do you, Mr. North, think Obumbler and his goons have done their best to remove firearms and ammunition from citizens? When the next "Waco" or "Ruby Ridge" occurs, the ESTABLISHMENT had better find hidey holes. The cowboys include vets and Oath Keepers. and the South may very well rise again if they keep on messing with our stuff.

It is really easy to follow the money on this outrage. Harry Reid and his son have already sold a large parcel of land there to the RED CHINESE. If you look at a map of the properties around Bundy's you will find they are all under Reid LLC he has taken taxpayer money to create roads and off ramps to each of them. Bundy has been paying his Taxes and Grazing fees to the proper authorities the County that the property is in. As for the Desert Tortoise they are actually killing many of them as they are thriving quite well cohabiting with the cattle

"At any time, a federal marshal and a couple of hundred armed deputies can go to Bundy’s house and arrest him."

No need for that – the government can just wait until this all dies down and then shoot all the cattle (remember, Bundy is grazing the herd on the allotment, not his personally-owned property, and the allotment is simply too large for Bundy & family to patrol).

That will put Bundy out of business & provide an object lesson to any other rancher who dares defy the all-powerful Oz.

Mr. North trusts corrupted, PC-based "voting machine" tallies more than the integrity of America's county sheriffs.
Bellowing he was Ron Paul's first staff economist, he is silent-as-a-sea serpent about why he was not the last. Commenters can take to the bank (like North, his donor contributions) that their URL's are tabulated and reported.

One thing to consider, it is easier to heard unarmed citizens into box cars than it is armed ones. It is all about control folks. I wonder if the poiticians realize if the Occupier becomes a dictator the nice cushy pay/ benefits they will no longer have. Could be lucky and only imprisoned……. LOL

Bull Roar, David.
"The government has more guns, and more men…." in their dreams and perhaps yours — which can become (in such arrogant ignorance) a nightmare.
We can see the fear in their eyes already. This is not a science-fiction movie.
This regime-driven Government has become an affliction, a self-annihilating mutation. We were once colonies and will not become the Middle-East to wallow in the 7th Century.

David::
You dance around the issues is an ungainly ballet — I don’t have to have an army at my elbow. Any more than you can trust the promises of this regime — it cannot possibly defend itself from exactly the people it must absolutely need, to support it.
What makes you think that arrogance can overpower and take the place of skill, perseverance, and hard bitten rejection of being dominated? Your arguments about numbers ignores the significance of the numbers and that of the array of weaponry has no sense — in the first place IF any regime fielded 5 million crack troops, they could also face 100 million that would just kill them (that is not just a claim I can make, history is your demonstration). As to weapons &c, you clearly know nothing about the making of war from your statements wrt men, materiel, deployment or logistic.
Your words cannot help this suicidal regime or get you on Jon Stewart’s Daily Show.
Propping up anything with BS may be an art-form, functionally it is still an ugly failure.
You can huff and puff at the keyboard, but the lessons of the real world will come as it will, to you and the current Il Duce who cannot even make the trains run on time.

"You can do nothing alone." I know you fervently believe this, because you are more afraid than anyone I know and this is just a word-game to you otherwise. All the same to me. I could not assume to tell you what you can or cannot do — your arrogance come out quite clearly and there is nothing to your 'debate' than that.
Playing the stratospheric observer and pontificating chillingly sows you have not been much involved in the real struggles in life or recognize the sacrifices of others; too bad. But I am sure you may have even recruited some of your kind to mindless submission and for that you will reap your own reward.
You certainly are not needed here for anything other than an example of a man w/o a country.
Pitiful.
It is pointless to say anything more to you, so that you can only refuse to understand or play your offensive game.
Bye.

We the People are tired of a bloated overgrown Government that takes and takes and takes. Our Government does not listen to us does not represent us anymore. We are instead now taking a hard stand against Tyranny just as our Founder's did and with the Second Amendment fully expected that this day may indeed come.

We will see some white Rosa Parks's asserting their right to create all-white businesses and groups soon enough. Nothing wrong with voluntary mixing of races, but why is it wrong to have a white student union where there is the Asian Alliance and Black Student Union?

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